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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24609211">The story of Catra and Adora's secret war</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Punisher143/pseuds/Punisher143'>Punisher143</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Catra being angry at Rock Paper Scissors is funny to me, Dumb games being taken ultra seriously, Gen, I needed no other reason to write this, Mostly Catra centric, Rock Paper Scissors war, Season 5 spoilers at the end</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:34:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,847</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24609211</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Punisher143/pseuds/Punisher143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Since the dawn of time (or at least as long as Catra and Adora had been on the same training squad, which is basically the same thing) a battle has raged between an undefeatable juggernaut and the unstoppable challenger to her reign. This is the story of how the shadowy clash of wills affected the tides of a war.<br/>...it didn't. Like, at all.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The story of Catra and Adora's secret war</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Growing up in the Fright Zone didn't offer a lot in the way of entertainment, especially for the numerous orphans in its ranks. Training, eating, and basic survival tend to take the most of their time, though that didn't stop them from finding a new game when they did have the chance. It was during one such lull that Catra was set upon by an excited Adora when she was trying to sleep.</p>
<p>"Catra, guess what, guess what!?" Adora said excitedly while shaking Catra awake. The act would have gotten anyone else a claw to the face, but Catra was much more forgiving to her friend.</p>
<p>"What, what is it?" Catra asked as she sat up and glared at Adora with as much annoyance she could muster.</p>
<p>"Lonnie just told me about a game and we have to try it!"</p>
<p>"Is it as good as the game where we glued Kyle to chairs?"</p>
<p>"…No. It's called 'Rock Paper Scissors' and it's easy enough that you can play with just two people!" Catra didn't say anything which Adora took as a sign to continue and held up a hand. "So the game is easy. We count to three and play either rock, paper, or scissors." She went through the three with her hand as she continued explaining, "Rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock, and whoever plays the higher one wins. Does that make sense?"</p>
<p>"Sounds dumb," Catra replied crossing her arms.</p>
<p>"So… you don't want to play it?" Catra flinched a little at the look of hurt in Adora's eyes and uncrossed her arms with a roll of her eyes.</p>
<p>"One game can't hurt I guess." Adora grinned widely and held up a fist that Catra mirrored. Adora showed Catra the motion to play and their first game was underway.</p>
<p>"One, two, three!" Adora counted and played paper while Catra played rock. Catra stared at the hands while Adora giggled and scratched her cheek. "Guess I win."</p>
<p>"…Can we do more than one?"</p>
<p>"Sure! Best two out of three?"</p>
<p>The next two games went the same way as the first with Adora winning with scissors over paper and rock over scissors. Catra stared at their hands in disbelief after the third game while Adora took her hand back with a wide grin. "Let's go again!" Catra demanded while balling her hand up.</p>
<p>"You really like this game huh?" Adora asked smiling which caused Catra to look to the side. Any further games were stopped however when a siren blared followed by an announcement.</p>
<p>"<em>Afternoon training begins now! All children and cadets are to report to the training rooms or face punishment!"</em></p>
<p>"Aw, already? We better go then," Adora stood up and held out a hand to Catra.</p>
<p>"But-!"</p>
<p>"We can play again after training, ok?" Catra stared at her and then at her hand before pushing herself up by herself.</p>
<p>"Alright, but I will win next time. Race you to the training rooms!" Catra sped past Adora, her shoulder clipping hers along the way, as she ran out of the room with Adora right behind her.</p>
<p>Little did these two know that this day was only the start of a long war between the two, one that would last years to come.</p><hr/>
<p>As the years rolled by many things changed for Adora and Catra. Growing up in Hordak's army led to the two of them becoming great fighters in their own ways. Though Catra seemed to favor fighting by herself than with a team, Adora flourished no matter what fight she was in. Despite the changes between the two and the fluctuating spar record between them, one thing remained constant between the two.</p>
<p>The rock paper scissors record.</p>
<p>No matter how many different strategies Catra tried or how hard she watched Adora during their games the result was always the same, with Adora victorious. While there was the occasional draw between them, it was never the win that Catra wanted. While this was normally nothing to get upset about, after almost ten years of this it was starting to get on Catra's nerves. Or maybe that was just a convenient excuse that she can use for any number of things that had upset Catra, most recently being Adora's promotion to Force Captain. That soured her mood almost completely.</p>
<p>And then Adora showed up with a skiff key and that sourness vanished like smoke.</p>
<p>"I still can't believe you, of all people, would steal a skiff key! This is like the third time the world threw me a curveball in the last hour or so," Catra whispered, her fur nearly standing up from the excitement.</p>
<p>"Well, I wanted to go outside too," Adora replied with a shrug as she looked around the corner. It wouldn't exactly be good if a soldier saw them sneaking around. After a second she nodded and waved Catra forward, following her as she dashed into the skiff garage. The door shut behind them as they slowed to a jog as they looked over all the skiffs. Adora soon jumped on the right skiff with Catra right behind her and both girls grabbed the steering controls at the same time. They stared at each other for a moment until Adora gave her feline friend a flat look. "Really, we're doing this now?"</p>
<p>"Well Adora, you took the key, so it's only natural that I get to drive it," Catra replied as she leaned against the steering stick and checked her claws."</p>
<p>"No offense, but you don't exactly have the best track record with these in practice. And weren't you banned from driving these last week for crashing one into a ration truck?"</p>
<p>"ONE TIME!"</p>
<p>"And one time is all it took. I'm driving."</p>
<p>"We might never get this chance again! Let me drive!"</p>
<p>"How about we settle this the usual way?" Adora asked and held up a fist. Catra narrowed her eyes and gripped the stick harder as she growled.</p>
<p>"Grr, I hate the usual way!"</p>
<p>"So you're ok with me driving?" Catra looked up at Adora and her infuriating smirk and sighed to herself as she held up a fist. The smirk turned into a smile as they shook their fists. "One, two, three!"</p>
<p>They played and Catra groaned as her rock was beaten by Adora's paper. "Better luck next time Catra," Adora said consolingly as she started the skiff while Catra sat down in one of the passenger chairs.</p>
<p>"Whatever. Just don't bore me with your driving ok?"</p>
<p>"I'll try not to." The engine revved loudly and Catra had the good sense to grab onto something before Adora gunned it and they drove out of the garage at high speed, shouting wildly the whole way. Neither would think that would be the last friendly match in their ongoing war.</p><hr/>
<p>Adora's defection to the Rebellion blindsided everyone who grew up with her in the Horde, no less Catra who saw it first-hand. That's not even getting into the transformation Adora did that first day, into a princess or She-Ra or whatever they called it. It didn't matter what it was called since it meant the same thing: they were enemies now and as such they both needed to be ready.</p>
<p>Catra, now a Force Captain, focused on expanding her influence in the Horde while working both with and secretly against Shadow Weaver. That was easier said than done however since Shadow Weaver didn't get to where she was by being lenient. In some weird way Catra was actually grateful to Adora being as much of a pain for her on the front line as she was for herself, though she wouldn't be dumb enough to show that.</p>
<p>Adora herself was getting more used to her role as She-Ra, the warrior of hope and symbol for the Rebellion. Despite how she arguably turned the tide of the war around, Adora could feel deep down that the fight against the Horde would only get harder.</p>
<p>As for her personal war against Catra, the ceasefire would end at the Princess Prom.</p>
<p>The plan was simple and one that Catra was more than happy to follow: she just had to keep Adora distracted while Scorpia did her job. That part proved to be easy since all Catra had to do was <em>show up</em> for Adora to be right on her tail. That and a few minorly suspicious activities, a note here and a look there, made sure she stayed there. When the latest ploy, involving assisting Entrapta in a way to make it look to Adora that she was about to push her off a ledge behind her, Catra was riding pretty high on how well everything was going for her.</p>
<p>"You need to relax Adora," Catra said as she walked past her while Entrapta returned to her readings on the barrister, "stress is bad for you, don't you know?" Catra chuckled as she passed her, her tail coming inches away from touching Adora's dress, and grinned as she imagined the look on her face.</p>
<p>As for Adora she was clenching her hands tightly at her sides. She was rapidly becoming tired of Catra dancing around her even though she just <em>knew</em> she was up to something. She just needed some kind of proof. She turned to watch Catra as she walked away when she had an idea.</p>
<p>'<em>Maybe she'll tilt her hand if I can throw her off guard?'</em> She thought turning to her fully and looked down at her hands and back up at Catra. <em>'If it doesn't work, then I'll just have made a fool of myself yet again.'</em> Adora walked after Catra, her pace just faster than hers so she could catch up, and narrowed her eyes just a little when she saw Catra slow down a little. "Hey Catra."</p>
<p>"Yes? Did I step on a lucky penny or something or-"</p>
<p>"One two three shoot!"</p>
<p>"Wha- Ah!" Acting purely on muscle instinct, Catra turned around and held out a hand to play scissors. It was only a second later that she realized what happened and that she had lost again since Adora had played rock. Catra glanced up at Adora, the blonde smirking at the result, and stood still as she moved her hands behind her.</p>
<p>"I win again," she said and started to slowly walk around Catra, "At least I got one win on you today. I'm looking forward to the next one." Catra didn't move when Adora was gone, though she was sure she was still watching her, and continued to stare at her hand. She then balled it into a fist and growled angrily, not even flinching as her claws dug into her palm as her entire being was filled with momentary fury.</p>
<p>She couldn't wait for those bombs to go off as the first dance was announced.</p><hr/>
<p>Much to Catra's ire, the pattern of her war with Adora held firm. Every time they encountered each other after the Prom Adora would always find a way to sneak a game into their fights. At first Catra would respond with muscle memory, but as it went on she started getting into it. And she kept losing, without even the occasional draw to dull the pain of the losses. And with every one Catra just grew more and more furious.</p>
<p>Adora just saw it as a diversion and a good way to lighten the otherwise rapidly darkening state of the world. It especially helped with Catra, who otherwise was able to sneak her way into her thoughts and feelings all too easily. So she was confused when the one time she was expecting Catra and instead had to fight Scorpia, she was more disappointed than relieved.</p>
<p>When she wasn't blocking the giant scorpion lady's attacks and fighting for her life that is.</p>
<p>"You don't seem like you're into this," Scorpia said after knocking Adora back with a strong blow, "Is something the matter?"</p>
<p>Even with the transformation into She-Ra providing both physical and mental strengthening, Adora couldn't help but be baffled by the large Force Captain's concern. "Are you…? We're in the middle of a fight!" Adora shouted and gestured around with her sword just as Frosta blew away a squad of troops with a shout and a blast of ice. She only barely finished this when she had to block another strike from Scorpia.</p>
<p>"Just because we're fighting doesn't mean I can't be concerned." This just made Adora look more befuddled as she fought against Scorpia. "Is it because Catra isn't here?" Scorpia glared harder as she asked, "It is, isn't it!?"</p>
<p>"What, no!" Adora angled her sword to throw Scorpia off guard and kicked her away, "It's nothing like that! I'm glad she isn't here."</p>
<p>"Are you sure? I'm a good listener you know!" She charged and swung at Adora, which she blocked easily even if she was knocked back with her feet digging into the stone pathway.</p>
<p>"Ok, I guess maybe a little," Adora said pinching her fingers a little, "but only because I wanted to beat her at rock paper scissors again."</p>
<p>"Oh, that thing? You think about it too?"</p>
<p>"Well not that often, but… wait, what do you mean 'too'?"</p>
<p>"Oh Catra talks about your competition all the time," Scorpia said as she let down her guard and started gesturing with her claws, leading Adora to let her guard down only a little. "You know, when she's not coming up with plans or telling me what to do or… ahem, grooming. She even keeps a running count of your matches."</p>
<p>"Still? Wait, for the year or all time?"</p>
<p>"Both."</p>
<p>"Tch, she hasn't changed at all."</p>
<p>"I don't see the appeal honestly. I tried to play with Catra, but she didn't want to! Said it would be too easy to win against me." Scorpia and Adora looked down at Scorpia's claws which she held up and pinched a couple of times. "I… can't exactly disagree with that."</p>
<p>"I… see." The two stared at each other, silent save for the sound of distant explosions, and Scorpia awkwardly tapped her pincers together.</p>
<p>"Are you disappointed that you can't do your game with Catra?" Adora said nothing, but glanced away from the Captain. "Would it make you feel better if I played a game with Catra in your stead? I get to play with her and she's bound to win! Everyone's happy!"</p>
<p>"…Yeah, sure. Whatever." Scorpia started clapping happily, which nearly brought a smile to Adora's face.</p>
<p>"WILL YOU TWO GET BACK TO FIGHTING NOW!" Glimmer shouted and both Scorpia and Adora looked to see Glimmer glaring at them before she had to teleport away from another soldier.</p>
<p>"…Time in?" Scorpia asked with a shrug.</p>
<p>"Yeah, time in," Adora agreed with a nod and brought her sword up to block one of Scorpia's pincers. "But she seriously let you be in charge here?"</p>
<p>"Why is everybody so surprised about that!?"</p>
<p>Later Scorpia had to report that her mission was a failure. The fort now belonged to the Rebellion and, worse of all, she was sure that Catra would be mad at her. Surprisingly she wasn't when she gave her report once she had gotten back to the Fright Zone. At least she wasn't mad at her.</p>
<p>"Of course it was Kyle's fault! I'll withhold his rations for a week because of this!" Catra growled out while clenching her fist in front of her. Soon she sighed and lowered it before looking back at Scorpia. "Anything else?"</p>
<p>"Well, there is one other thing. Adora wanted me to play… rock paper scissors with you since she couldn't. You know, when she attacked the fort." Catra blinked at Scorpia, her expression suspiciously blank, and tilted her head.</p>
<p>"She… stopped her attack to ask you to do that?" Scorpia nodded and Catra rolled her eyes with another groan. "She really knows how to get on my nerves. Fine, but this counts for her." Scorpia nodded with a large smile and held out a pincer while Catra held out a fist. She kept her expression blank, but deep down felt some sense of satisfaction at finally being able to win against Adora, if only by proxy. <em>'All I have to do is play rock!'</em></p>
<p>She played paper.</p>
<p>"Wow… that is some bad luck Catra." Catra didn't answer and Scorpia looked up to see Catra staring down at her traitorous hand, her eyes narrow and twitching. "Catra?"</p>
<p>"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" Catra screamed loudly while pulling on her ears. When that didn't provide enough pain for her liking she rushed over to a metal wall and started bashing her head against it. She never once thought of how she must look to Scorpia.</p>
<p>"Um… you look very busy now Catra," She said and started shuffling over to the door, "I'll leave you to it and… find you some ice packs." Catra didn't reply as she was too busy bashing her head and Scorpia turned and left the room quickly. <em>'Catra would need as many ice packs as I can carry, I'm sure!'</em></p><hr/>
<p>"I win agaaaaaaain!"</p>
<p>"Grrr, one more time!"</p>
<p>Entrapta looked over at Catra and Adora for a split second before returning to her work. She was so close to cracking the code she was working on as well as figuring out what happened to her drill bots. Mysteries were fascinating to her and she couldn't wait to unravel it, no matter how much noise tried its best to distract her!</p>
<p>"I win!"</p>
<p>"Gah, one more!"</p>
<p>It's really trying its hardest though. She had thought about putting on some noise canceling headphones a little while ago, but then she'd miss the sound of keys clacking as she pressed them. And that just wouldn't do! Entrapta looked at a different screen to try and track a signal that was coming right toward them and grinned a little.</p>
<p>"Win!"</p>
<p>"<em>HOW!?"</em></p>
<p>Ok, now her curiosity was piqued. She hit a key to compile the code she was working on and used her hair to push her chair closer to Adora and Catra to watch them. She tilted her head as Catra stared intently at Adora, who in return was staring at absolutely nothing. Yet another thing Entrapta couldn't wait to investigate further when she got the chance. A virus that affects First One's tech actually affecting a person this way was exciting, a veritable treasure trove of possibilities! One thing at a time though, as much as she didn't want to.</p>
<p>Entrapta held up a recorder in her hair as Catra and Adora held their hands out, the latter hardly able to move it at all in her state, until they played paper and scissors respectively. "Winner winner, chicken dinner!" Adora sung while swaying in her seat.</p>
<p>"HOW!? How are you doing this? You don't even know where you are!"</p>
<p>"Debatable," Entrapta said, causing Catra to jump to her feet while Adora waved at her.</p>
<p>"Hi hair lady!"</p>
<p>"Hello."</p>
<p>"When did you get there!?" Catra demanded pointing at Entrapta.</p>
<p>"Just now," Entrapta answered and held her recorder closer to her head, "Miscellaneous interactions log minute ten: the game has been brought to a momentary stand still with Adora having the advantage. Further observation pending. So what's the game about?"</p>
<p>"It's… nothing," Catra said and sat back down, "it's just a stupid thing we've been doing for a while."</p>
<p>"It's called Rock Paper Scissors," Adora said happily and almost fell over if it weren't for Entrapta's hair, "It's so much fun! and Catra loses <em>all the time!"</em></p>
<p>"I do not!"</p>
<p>"A breakthrough is happening!" Entrapta shouted into her recorder.</p>
<p>"Don't listen to her!"</p>
<p>"Oh yeah," Adora said and leaned closer to Catra, her drowsy eyes barely opened as she stared at her, "All. The. Time!"</p>
<p>"Several games ended in a draw!"</p>
<p>"A draw is we both lose, not we both win," Adora said and reached a hand out to scratch under Catra's chin, "Silly kitty."</p>
<p>"Don't touch me!"</p>
<p>"That's interesting," Entrapta muttered while Catra slapped Adora's hand away, "and how long has this been happening?"</p>
<p>"Six months!"</p>
<p>"Pfft, no silly! We've been doing this since we were eight!" Adora stared as she held a finger up and swayed more as she continued. "Don't you remember, Lonnie told me about it!"</p>
<p>"Shut! Up!"</p>
<p>"That's statistically impossible!" Entrapta declared wide eyed, "You can't play a game like that for almost a decade without winning at least once! There's always a one in three chance of a win!"</p>
<p>"Stop rubbing it in! And there were draws!" Catra paused in her rantings when she saw the look on Entrapta's face, absolutely and entirely gleeful, and groaned her irritation out.</p>
<p>"IT'S A SCIENTIFIC ANOMALY!" Entrapta shouted and spun her chair around, stopping when she got a new recorder out and started recording. "Impromptu experiment, rock paper scissors! Catra's loss record in the game is astounding and requires immediate testing!"</p>
<p>"Hey!"</p>
<p>"The participants will be myself, Catra, and Adora in a delirious state. After ten rounds between each pair of participants, the results will be collated!" Entrapta then turned to Catra with her fist held out.</p>
<p>"You can't be serious," Catra said and got no reaction from Entrapta other than her usual blank smile. After a moment she sighed and held her own hand out. "One, two, three," she said dryly and played.</p>
<p>"Result, Catra wins with Paper!"</p>
<p>"…What?" Catra looked down at their hands and saw she had indeed won. Unsure of how to feel about this she turned her hand over to stare at her palm while Entrapta moved on to play Adora and record her win as soon as it happened.</p>
<p>"Catra, your turn again!" Catra's ears perked up as she looked at Entrapta and then at Adora who was holding her fist out at her. She growled as she returned the gesture, her eyes locked on Adora's blue, and did her best not to get distracted by her dopey smile as she played.</p>
<p>And predictably lost.</p>
<p>"Interesting…" Entrapta said while rubbing her chin with her hair, "let's go again!"</p>
<p>And so it continued for the next few minutes, and so far the only thing Catra could tell was that she was somehow cursed. Her matches with Entrapta was a refreshing mix of losses, wins, and draws, which was the same as Entrapta's matches with Adora. And yet, every time Catra played Adora she would lose, save for the very last match of the experiment ending in a draw. To say she was mad would be an understatement.</p>
<p>"This. Is. Amazing!" Entrapta shouted into her recorder as she spun in her chair, "the data from these tests goes against the laws of probability! I can't wait to dig into this further!"</p>
<p>"Argh, shut up! Just forget this ever happened!" Catra crouched and curled up on herself, trying her hardest to ignore Adora's giggles and Entrapta's looming presence next to her.</p>
<p>"Do you want to know my preliminary findings for why you keep losing?" Despite her grievances, Catra was indeed slightly curious. So, with a heavy sigh, she waved her hand in the air for Entrapta to continue. "So, I'm going to have to study it a bit more, but the results seem pretty clear. It's all in your head."</p>
<p>"…Eh?" Catra lifted her head up to look at Entrapta, who had maneuvered herself to be sitting upside down in her chair.</p>
<p>"It's just a hypothesis for now, but it seems you have a mental hurdle when it comes to playing this game with Adora. You hit it every time you play and subconsciously play the wrong thing even when you know what the right one is. It's really fascinating!"</p>
<p>"But I fight her all the time and don't hit this 'hurdle' thing!" Catra protested as she pointed at Adora, who flopped onto her back at that moment.</p>
<p>"That's what makes it so interesting! It looks like it only happens when you play that game with her. I can't wait to get more data for this!"</p>
<p>"You… want me to lose to her more?" Catra's eyebrow twitched at that prospect.</p>
<p>"The fastest way to get past a hurdle is to keep confronting it until it's nothing. It's scientifically proven."</p>
<p>As much as Catra didn't want to agree with her, she did admit that the tech nerd had a point. And since Adora was under her control thanks to Entrapta's disc she had all the time in the world to get over it. <em>'Yeah, that sounds go-'</em></p>
<p>"Pfft, nah," Adora interrupted, having gotten up to her feet and started stumbling around with a slight slur to her words, "that's not the problem. Catra's just <em>bad</em> at this game!"</p>
<p>"I'll show you bad!" Catra leapt at Adora and tackled her to the ground, all while Entrapta watched from her chair. Soon though her computer started beeping and Entrapta excitedly rolled over to it with her hair. Science waits for no one after all!</p><hr/>
<p>A lot changed in the time since then. The Crimson Waste, the Portal, Double Trouble, The Heart of Etheria. And just like most of Catra's life, every time she thought she had gotten something good it was ripped away from her. Even now, on the flagship of Horde Prime, nothing had changed for the better and she was more or less a prisoner in a gilded cage. At least she wasn't the only one.</p>
<p>Recently Catra made a habit of having the occasional small talk with Glimmer, or 'Sparkles', during her random wanderings that were ostensibly her 'patrols' through the ship. She didn't think that the little queen could provide anything in the way of enthralling conversation, but anything would be better than constantly hearing about 'the glory of Horde Prime's light' over and over again.</p>
<p>So naturally her and Adora's 'war' came up in conversation.</p>
<p>"Really, you never won against her? That's some incredible bad luck!"</p>
<p>"You think? I was told it was a mental hurdle or something. I honestly don't know which one makes me feel better." Catra bunched up a little at that thought, her tail curling around her feet as she did so, and really thought about it. "Eh, they both make me feel like crap."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I guess it means the same thing in the end doesn't it?" Glimmer asked with a small laugh before stopping and scratching her cheek. "Er, no offense of course. It's just a game after all."</p>
<p>"Tch, story of my life. Even in a game I can't beat Adora," Catra said feeling all the worse and curling up further on herself. "I bet you have a better record against her than I do."</p>
<p>"Well… no, not really." Catra blinked at the answer and almost turned around as Glimmer continued, "Adora hardly ever played that with us. I mean, I know I… really screwed up my chances for that, but even before then she didn't really play with us. I get the feeling that was more a thing for you two." Catra huffed and stood up to walk away, not caring as Glimmer looked through the energy door before it brightened and blocked off her view of the hallway. "Good job Glimmer, you just had to bring that up! Ugh, I need to get out of here." Barring any actual idea of how to do that, Glimmer picked herself up and lay on her bed to think.</p>
<p>Which made the sudden prison break from Catra and the mad dash to a teleporter room about a day later all the more surprising. Welcome, but surprising. They had barely made it to the teleporter room with a dozen clones on their tail when Catra sealed the door behind them.</p>
<p>"That's not going to hold them for long, so we better do this fast!" Catra shouted as she rushed to a console and started working on it. "Stand right there!"</p>
<p>"Uh, ok," Glimmer said more to herself as she stood on the spot Catra pointed to and found herself surrounded by an energy field as soon as she was settled. "What are you doing?"</p>
<p>"I'm sending you to Adora." Catra flinched as the something hit the door hard enough to leave a noticeable dent in it. "Ok, we might not have as much time as I hoped. Better make this fast!" Catra worked as fast as she could and, once she was sure she had the perfect spot to send Glimmer, she tapped a few more keys to open communications with Adora's ship. She barely had to wait for her call to be answered.</p>
<p>"<em>Hello?"</em></p>
<p>"Hey Adora."</p>
<p>"<em>Catra! How are you calling us?"</em></p>
<p>"Does it matter?" Another thud at the door and a tearing of metal that made Catra looked back to see a rather sizable hole in the door. "Look, we're running out of time here! I'm sending you some coordinates, Glimmer is going to be there. Get her and get out of here, Horde Prime is tracking you and will be on you the moment you stop."</p>
<p>"<em>And what about you?"</em> Catra grimaced a little as she looked up at Glimmer, who was looking at her concerned with her hands pressed against the energy field.</p>
<p>"…Don't worry about me." The door crashed open and Catra looked when a group of clones came charging toward her. The first one that reached her got a kick to the face that launched it back into the crowd behind it and Catra quickly went back to setting the teleporter. "We're out of time! Just get to those coordinates and get out of here!" She elbowed another clone and looked up at Glimmer, who looked back at her with concern, and pressed the button to teleport her away. Glimmer disappeared in a flash of light and Catra felt a clone wrap its arm around her throat before she slammed a fist into its face and threw it over her shoulder.</p>
<p>"And Adora?"</p>
<p>"<em>Yeah?"</em></p>
<p>"…Don't come back for me. And I'm sorry."</p>
<p>"<em>Wait, Cat-"</em> Catra cut off the call mid-sentence and let out a small sigh as the clones overran her.</p>
<p>'<em>There's no way I was going to let my last words to Adora be anything about that stupid game!'</em></p><hr/>
<p>Being chipped by Horde Prime was undoubtedly one of the worst things Catra had ever gone through, which was a very high bar so far, and the 'baptism' to solidify it didn't help at all. Feeling her lose control of her body, suppressed mentally to the point where at most she would just be a spectator to what happened to her, it was awful and left a sickening feeling that settled deep into her stomach. Especially with the last thing she saw before succumbing to darkness being Horde Prime's grinning face as he stated Catra would be 'his next vessel'. It took every bit of strength Catra had to tread the water of her mind and not sink completely.</p>
<p>So it was a surprise when she woke up and the first thing she saw was Adora, holding her close with tears threatening to spill from her eyes, and a thousand emotions flooded Catra with relief topping all of them. Just as Catra had figured Adora had foolishly charged right in to get her and, against all odds, she managed to pull her right out of the jaws of death. She was exhausted for the next few days as the wear of everything that happened caught up with her along with the flashes she still got from the chip until Entrapta managed to get it off of her. After a few days of rest (when Adora wasn't bothering her making sure she was alright) and Catra was back on her feet good as new.</p>
<p>So naturally, the war continued once she was.</p>
<p>"Another win."</p>
<p>"Crap! One more."</p>
<p>"Yes, one more! I'm getting such good data from this!" Entrapta was having a blast from the latest bout between Adora and Catra, the latter in the former's lap while she sat in the captain's chair. The two silently glanced at the mechanist as she swung back and forth on her hair while holding up a recorder before going back to their matches.</p>
<p>"You know, this was kind of funny at first, but as it goes on it just gets sadder," Glimmer said from her station at the front console next to Bow. "I mean, the stories I heard painted these as more… dramatic I guess."</p>
<p>"I don't know why you'd think that, it's just Rock Paper Scissors," Bow commented and glanced at Glimmer for a moment before looking back to his console and pressed a key. For a moment nothing happened until a nearby panel burst into flames. "Oh come on, why did that happen!? Entrapta!"</p>
<p>"Wha…?" Entrapta looked at a very concerned Bow rapidly pointing at the fire, "Oh, fire. Ok. I have to take care of that, so the experiment is on hold for a minute." Entrapta set herself down on her feet and rushed over to the console with Bow while Catra played her last game with Adora.</p>
<p>"Draw."</p>
<p>"Gah!" Catra flinched and clenched her fist tightly before sighing and flipping off the chair. "Whatever, it's fine, I could use a break." With a wave Catra walked to the door to the rest of the ship, not noticing Adora watching her as she vanished behind the closing doors. She stood up from her chair while watching the door, only taking her eyes off it when Glimmer tapped her on the shoulder.</p>
<p>"So, are you feeling better now that we got Catra back?" she asked and crossed her arms.</p>
<p>"Of course I'm glad she's back," Adora replied and turned to Glimmer, "but I'm more relieved that she's getting back to her usual self again."</p>
<p>"And that you can play that game with her again and dominate her." Glimmer didn't bother to hide her smirk at that.</p>
<p>"Well I'm not saying <em>that</em> with those exact words, and I can't help that our games always end up a certain way." The two stood staring at each other in silence while Bow's terrified screams filled the cockpit while Entrapta fought the fire. "Well, most of the time anyway." Glimmer started giggling to herself, which caused Adora to quirk an eyebrow. "What is it?"</p>
<p>"Oh, it's nothing. I just think it's funny that a simple game means so much to you two. She talked about it a lot when I was… on the ship."</p>
<p>"She did?"</p>
<p>"Mhmm. I have to wonder, with how often she talks about losing to you, why haven't you ever tried to throw a match for her?" Adora looked back at the door for a second before waving Glimmer closer. Once she was close enough she wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held a hand up to her ear.</p>
<p>"Between the two of us, I tried a lot. It never works," she whispered.</p>
<p>"Really?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, and I don't get it. Catra always loses for some reason. It's like she intentionally plays the wrong thing every time!" Adora pulled away from Glimmer and rested her hands on her hips, "but that can't hold forever. I believe she will win someday and I'll be happy for her when she does."</p>
<p>"But you do like beating her right?" Adora didn't answer for a moment before pinching her fingers together with a sheepish look. "I thought so. And may I ask why that is?"</p>
<p>'<em>Because Catra is cute when she's angry.'</em> "Habit I guess, it's hard to break."</p>
<p>"And nothing else?"</p>
<p>"You're being awfully pushy about this. If you want to ask something just ask it." Glimmer shrugged in response and the two jumped back when an empty fire extinguisher clattered next to her.</p>
<p>"Ok, the fire is put out now!" Entrapta said as she walked over to Adora and Glimmer while dusting her hands off, "so now we can get back to our experiment! Where's Catra?" Adora shrugged and the door behind them opened and Catra poked her had in.</p>
<p>"Hey, Wrong Hordak is stuck in the toilet," she called, jerking a thumb over her shoulder.</p>
<p>"But… he doesn't need to use that."</p>
<p>"I don't think anybody told him that." Entrapta stared at Catra for a few moments before slowly lifting a recorder up in her hair and turned it on with a gleeful smile.</p>
<p>"Faaaaascinating!" she said gleefully and ran past Adora, Glimmer, and Catra into the ship while that latter entered the room and stopped to lean against the captain's chair.</p>
<p>"So what were you guys talking about?"</p>
<p>"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Adora said much louder than needed and, with a forced smile, put her hands on Catra's shoulders, "hey, why don't we go and help free Wrong Hordak! That sounds good right?"</p>
<p>"Uh, no. Trust me Adora, you don't want to go in there."</p>
<p>"Catra," Adora pressed her face closer to Catra's to an uncomfortable degree, causing the magicat to tilt her head back and press her ears down, "we <em>all</em> have to use that room. The faster we fix that problem, the faster we don't have to deal with any others that may come from it. Do you <em>understand?"</em></p>
<p>"Yes, I get it!" Catra pushed Adora away from her and started rubbing her arms, "stop getting so close to me!"</p>
<p>"Great, now let's go fix the problem!" Adora stiffly walked around Catra, who shook her head before following her out the door leaving Glimmer and Bow in the cockpit.</p>
<p>"So how did Wrong Hordak get stuck in the toilet?" Bow asked.</p>
<p>"I don't want to know, let's just leave that to them," Glimmer replied holding her hands up as she walked over to Bow, "let's just… I don't know, try calling the others again or something."</p>
<p>"I guess we should try again. I wish they would pick up."</p><hr/>
<p>Thinking back on all of this, Adora sighed and felt relief wash over her as she sat down. There had been way too many close calls up to now for Adora's heart to take. Krystis, reclaiming what small amounts of Etheria's good will they could, and getting the key to the Heart's failsafe. Even now as she remembered the burden it put on her sent a shiver up her spine.</p>
<p>Once the shiver passed she looked up at the results of her hard work and hardships and smiled. Etheria had always been beautiful, but with its magic freed and flowing again everything was so much more beautiful. She had never seen so many flowers in one place in her life, a sight only accentuated by the floating lights of magic all around her. Adora let go of her legs and fell backwards to lay on her back, letting out a sigh as she did so. She let herself relax a little, more than she had in a long while, and let a sigh escape from her as she felt the grass under her.</p>
<p>That only lasted a few seconds before she felt something press against her forehead and heard something purring and smiled just a little bit wider since she knew who that was without even having to open her eyes.</p>
<p>"Hey Adora."</p>
<p>"Hey Catra," Adora replied and opened her eyes to look up at Catra as she leaned over her. Adora sat up and looked behind her as Catra moved to sit next to her. "Did someone send you to find me?"</p>
<p>"Don't remind me about that, I only just barely got away from a meeting," Catra said shaking her head as she sat down, "and I don't think I lost Sparkles either, so she'll probably be on her way soon."</p>
<p>"But she won't right now." Adora wrapped an arm around Catra's shoulder and pulled her closer. Her heart fluttered a little at how quickly Catra settled against her and started purring. A lot really had changed in so short a time. The two girls sat quietly and enjoyed the other's presence for a few moments until Catra shifted a little and poked Adora in the side.</p>
<p>"So, what were you doing out here?"</p>
<p>"Well, not much really. Just thinking and enjoying the scenery. It's kind of funny thinking that one borrowed skiff could lead to all of this."</p>
<p>"You mean 'stolen'."</p>
<p>"No, it was <em>borrowed</em> and I am <em>not</em> having this argument with you again!" Despite her tone Adora couldn't help but smile when Catra started laughing. More than anything else this was the biggest change that happened lately. Granted the fact that there were no more foreseeable battles with the fate of Etheria hanging in the balance was also a very good change, but as far as Adora was concerned those two were inextricably bound. It was Catra's confession of love that pushed Adora through the strain the failsafe put on her.</p>
<p>Then her face started to burn up at the thought. Catra wasn't just her friend anymore, but her girlfriend now. She loves her as much as Adora loved her and knowing that was one of the best feelings ever. <em>'It feels even better than when Catra gets angry over losing at Rock Paper Scissors. Not that she'll ever know about that if I have anything to say about that.'</em></p>
<p>There was a sudden sound of Glimmer's teleportation behind them and they moved away from each other enough to turn and see Glimmer and Bow behind them with some small sparkles drifting off of them from the teleportation. "There you two are," Glimmer said looking the two of them over, "We've been looking everywhere for you two."</p>
<p>"Well, you found us," Catra said with an eye roll, "So did you need us for something?"</p>
<p>"Nothing that serious," Bow answered with a shrug, "we just need to figure out a couple of things for 'The Best Friends Squad mission to bring magic back to the wide universe'!" Adora and Catra stared at Bow for a few moments, Glimmer only smiling at him, until he sheepishly rubbed his arm and said, "Ok, I think you were right Glimmer. We may need to shorten that mission name."</p>
<p>"We'll come up with an acronym later," Adora said and stood up, keeping her hand down so she could help Catra stand up. "So what do you need help with? Getting food and stuff?"</p>
<p>"Pretty much," Glimmer said with a nod, "we're also trying to get Entrapta to come with us, so we'll also need to figure that out."</p>
<p>"Not it," Catra said, making an X with her arms.</p>
<p>"Not it," Adora said and did the same.</p>
<p>"…Wow, are you guys…?" Glimmer started to say before shaking her head, "No, you know what, that's fine. Bow and I can take care of Entrapta-"</p>
<p>"We can?" Bow asked, very much confused.</p>
<p>"-And you two can worry about the food! Does that sound good?"</p>
<p>"Mhmm, that should be easy enough. So first we'd need to take inventory to see what we're missing, and then fill to compensate for-"</p>
<p>"Why are you talking like <em>you're</em> going to be the one in charge of that?" Catra interrupted crossing her arms.</p>
<p>"Well, because I am. Or would <em>you</em> rather do all that 'busywork' as you would put it?"</p>
<p>"…I would at least like the option." No sooner had the words come out of her mouth did Catra realize what she unleashed as she looked away. When she looked back Adora was smiling widely and holding a fist out to her. "Really?"</p>
<p>"Just one. That won't hurt, right?" Catra looked at Bow and Glimmer, who offered no support other than reassuring smiles, and rolled her eyes as she looked back at Adora and her cute smirk and held out a fist as well.</p>
<p>"Fine, but we both know how this is going to end. One, two three." Catra looked up at the sky as they played and, when they were done, was surprised by the sudden gasps from everyone else.</p>
<p>"Oh my gosh!" Bow said excitedly.</p>
<p>"Huh, would you look at that," Glimmer said.</p>
<p>"Told you it would happen someday," Adora said proudly.</p>
<p>"What would happen?" Catra asked and looked down at her hand. Her eyes widened as she saw the results, with her playing scissors and Adora playing paper. Catra's eyes narrowed and flicked up at Adora who was smiling happily at her. "I… did you…?"</p>
<p>"I didn't change my hand at all," Adora said and pulled her hand back, prompting Catra to look down at hers again, "You won fair and square." Adora's smile widened as the fact sank into Catra and her expression slowly went from shocked to overjoyed.</p>
<p>"I… won…" she said quietly as she clenched her hand into a fist and shot them both over her head and shouted, "I finally won! Ha ha!" Catra then took off in a run past Adora and started lapping the group, laughing maniacally as she started weaving in between Bow and Glimmer.</p>
<p>'<em>I take back what I said, </em>this<em> is way cuter than when she's angry,'</em> Adora thought as she watched Catra run. Soon she stopped in between Bow and Glimmer and settled on Adora, who stopped smiling as she realized what Catra was thinking at that moment. "Wait Catra, don't-!" she tried to say to no avail as Catra lunged at her and knocked her down.</p>
<p>The two of them started to roll down the hill they were on, Adora screaming at first before it was replaced with laughter when she realized it was a lot more controlled than she thought. Bow and Glimmer watched them as they rolled until they settled at the bottom of the hill.</p>
<p>"Are they ok?" Bow asked looking over the crest of the hill down at Adora and Catra.</p>
<p>"Oh yeah, they look ok," Glimmer answered flatly.</p>
<p>"…Are they-?"</p>
<p>"Kissing? Oh yeah."</p>
<p>"…Should we come back later for them?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, that sounds like a plan." Glimmer walked over to Bow and grabbed him before she teleported away, leaving her two friends at the bottom of the hill for the moment. They lay on the grass kissing while Catra gently stroked Adora's cheek. Soon she pulled away to catch their breath and rested her forehead on Adora's.</p>
<p>"Wow… you were that happy to finally win a game against me?" Adora asked teasingly as she rested her hands on Catra's waist.</p>
<p>"Well, wouldn't you be after so long?" Catra asked and placed a quick kiss on Adora's cheek before going back to staring into Adora's eyes, "So what does that make the score?"</p>
<p>"5,624 to one," Adora replied and smirked as Catra's face immediately went flat. "Buuuuut, I suppose after everything you've done, we could start over at 1-0. That sounds fair right?"</p>
<p>"…You're such an idiot."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I know." Adora laughed as Catra settled her head into Adora's neck. "I love you Catra."</p>
<p>"I love you too," Catra replied and nestled a little closer to Adora. Adora smiled as she heard Catra's purrs and hugged her tightly.</p>
<p>Their personal 'war' may be over, but they both knew that this meant it was only the start of something more grand. And, secretly, they both hopped there would be more games between them going forward.</p>
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